I am going to work at least 7 more years before considering retirement. Then I want to go on a cruise through the Panama Canal. I want to also go back to school for another Bachelor degree, or for my Masters'.

I am retired, the King is not. So, for me - sleeping in! All day in my garden, if I choose. Going on all his business trips with him (Hawaii last month). Having the time to really cook like I want to. Having weekends that aren't devoted completely to household chores. Lots of reading. Mastering Italian cuisine.

On the down side? Frankly, a little loneliness, as the King works as do most of my friends. Something I need to work on...

Some of these stories make me sad. It seems like just an existence, no growing or fun.

Dear Luci45,

I agree with you that a few of these stories are sad, most are not.

Back in the 1970s I had a decent job in an insurance office. I worked with a younger man who was a 'Club Kid'. He'd hit the disco clubs every night and come to work looking like his eyes were put in backward. One day he asked me, 'Thipu, you're an older woman. Tell me. When do you stop wanting to have fun?

At the time, I was pushing the advanced age of 29.

I don't know how old you are. I do know that what constitutes 'growing' and 'fun' change as you get older. Part of the beauty of retirement is learning who you really are without the constraints of a time-clock and a boss or the needs of young children. That's a sort of 'growing'. It's also a sort of 'fun'.

When they retire, people who always had to be concerned about making money and raising children can have the leisure to take courses in subjects in which they were interested when they were younger. In their first swing through school, they had to focus on career. Now, they can focus on what makes them happy without being concerned about GPAs. That's both a type of 'growing' and a type of 'fun'.

Yes, retirement involves a slowing-down but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. You have time to think and consider what is really important to you. That's also a sort of 'growing' and a sort of 'fun'.

My friend Connie is counting down the days (16!) until her retirement. She's very excited. She wants to travel.....take Amtrak to visit her sister, go to the Hermitage near Nashville with the grandkids, visit a girlfriend who lives in Louisiana, travel out west, are just a few of the places she wants to do/see.

I am currently 44, work in a fairly low-level position in a large organization and I am 3 years in to a 5 year undergraduate degree. So, in two years (2015), I will have my BS (and move into a mid-level position), then start a combined 5-year MS/PhD program that includes a year of residency in my chosen vocation. When I finish that, in 2020, I will be 51 years old. I will have all the tools at my disposal to start my own practice. I plan to work 40 hours a week at my practice, with 5 weeks off a year (for my staff as well), until I am 62. I want to cut back one day at that point. At least that is the plan!

DH and I love northern Georgia, particularly the Blue Ridge area. We are planning to buy property there in the next ten years, then build two homes on our property. A farmhouse in the valley, a cabin halfway up the mountain. We want to have our own small farm, raising our own food animals and crops. We might make cheese or raise bees, anything we want to do. We want to host inner-city kids for a week during their summer break and show them where their food comes from. We will continue to volunteer with the Scouts, because we love that connection with children.

My mother has a pretty sad, lonely existence as a medical retiree, but she is stubborn and won't join a club or group where she might have some fun.

Logged

ďAll that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."-J.R.R Tolkien

Worst? Hmm, possibly having DH at home all day... I love him dearly, but for quite a while it was odd, as I was used to having time alone.

Then again. Best? Afternoon Scrabble. Heh.

The old joke is that 'I married him for better or worse. I didn't marry him for lunch'.

Getting used to being at home together all the time was the hardest thing about adjusting to retirement. It was as hard as sharing an apartment when we married 30 years ago.

Things you hardly notice when you're only together in the evenings can really get under your skin when you share breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. In the beginning, we had a few little blow-ups but we've gotten used to the people we've become and everything is now hunky-dory.

Not having to worry about office politicsNot having to commute in foul weatherNot having to tell the boss you want time off for holidays, medical appointments.Not having to worry about whether or not you should make the effort to turn into work whan you wake up feeling less than 100% fit.And if you are, not having to make a doctors appointment to get a certifcate if you can't see yourself recovering from your cold in less than three days.

Hehe Ė my dad took early retirement at 58; he was offered a great package, but no guarantee of anything if he stayed, and then was let go. So he took it. My mom was still working, PT, making her own hours, etc. So they managed to keep out of each otherís hair. My dad also took over the cooking and grocery shopping which thrilled my mom to no end as she detested it and he loved it. I was still living at home, so I benefitted as well! Dad also worked PT doing taxes; a couple years for one of the large, national companies, hated it (company policies etc. not the clients), then volunteered with AARP doing the same thing, which he loved. After they moved to VA they joined a lot of clubs etc in their new development, some together, some separate. They drove each other crazy at times but for the most part, each was independent enough that they werenít joined at the hip, 24/7. And since he passed away, 5+ years ago, I joke with my mom that she has a better social life than I do as she is involved in groups where she lives, at church, and with the former community she lived in. She is quite the social butterfly and enjoys it all.